Today marks two weeks since San Francisco’s shelter in place mandate, and the initial results seem promising. By and large, most folks are complying and spending most of their waking and sleeping hours inside. Even though we don’t have the full picture due to lack of testing, I think a positive indicator is that hospitals haven’t been overrun. We’re definitely not in the clear yet, and I’m hopeful that the latest shelter in place extension until at least May 3 will continue to tie up loose ends and loopholes from the original mandate. The next few weeks will be key. Let’s keep at it.
With another week in the books, I thought it’d be a good time to check in and share some of my experiences, stories, and ideas from this past week. Read on for my schedule refinements, physical therapy story, and thoughts on grieving and sticking with community.
Routine Refinement
In my previous post, I mentioned how it was important for me to come up with a new routine to keep me grounded. I’ve been sticking to it while adjusting and refining it. For one, I’ve now set up several work spaces so that I’m not sitting in the same place the entire day. This includes an improvised standing desk contraption in my room, along with some table space in the dining area. If I sense that I’ve been in one place a bit too long, I’ll move to another area to switch things up.
Without much outdoor time and even less sunlight than normal, I’ve felt a lot more lethargic. All the alarming news headlines haven’t helped, either. So I started taking an extra daily dosage of Vitamin D and scheduling daily walks or jogs. The other day, another realization hit me – I wasn’t drinking enough water. So every time I take a break, I make sure to hydrate, too. I think these adjustments, along with getting better sleep, have been helping quite a bit.
Finally, I’m trying to tackle one main thing after work each day, whether that’s watching a movie, virtually hanging out with friends, writing, or practicing DJ mixing. Focusing has definitely allowed me to enjoy the task at hand more fully and without the guilt that I wasn’t doing enough.
Exercise & Physical Therapy
On the exercise front, I’ve continued to stay active with body weight exercises and some light cardio pretty much every day. I was running but surprise – I ramped up too quickly and met my old friend tendinitis. Who knew running the same distance that I normally walk is still not the same on the body? So now I’m taking chiller afternoon walks to let things heal.
Speaking of injury – as some of you might already know, I got into a pretty bad snowboarding crash at Jackson Hole in late February. Long story short, I tore a shoulder ligament (grade 3 AC joint separation) which ended my season. Thankfully, I had the option between surgery and physical therapy – I opted for the more conservative route. I’d been doing PT sessions in the weeks leading up to sheltering in place, so I’d already regained much of my mobility by the time sessions moved over to Zoom.
It’s been a frustrating time since I hate being injured and usually want to return to physical activity as soon as possible. The situation has really helped me slow down and focus on my recovery. I’m glad to say I’ve been doing the strength exercises every day without fail, and just a couple days ago, I was able to do several pull-ups, something I thought would never happen again when I initially crashed. This really put things into perspective for me and encouraged me to stay the course.
Permission to Grieve (But Responsibly)
In my community and reading circles, a big topic this past week was of grief. A lot of our actions during this time reflect the different stages of grief, and I’ve realized that it’s healthier for me to accept and experience it rather than avoid it. I’m giving myself the permission to grieve, but responsibly. Let me expand on that.
There’s been some Internet furor in recent days over celebrities making tone-deaf posts complaining about being quarantined in huge mansions and yachts. I get the sentiment. Everyone is working through their own sadness and disappointment, and grieving responsibly to me means working through my own pain while recognizing my blessings and acknowledging that there are those out there who are less fortunate.
At the same time, I’m doing my best to not let grief keep me from inaction. Over the weekend, I hopped on some Zoom calls with friends. Before joining, a part of me didn’t really want to interact with anyone, but I pushed myself to join the calls and had a great time. I ended up going to bed Sunday night feeling more energized for the week ahead than I’d felt in a long time. As I’m working through grief, I’m also doing my best to not get trapped in these emotions. I’m hoping in the coming weeks, I can continue to push myself while allowing myself the grace and space to come to terms with everything happening in the world.
Loneliness & Community
Speaking of community, I’ve found that having a good group of friends has been key in dealing with the fear and uncertainty of the times. My housemates both went home to be with their families on Day 1 of shelter in place, so I’ve been holding down the fort at our apartment the past couple weeks. While I don’t mind being alone, I’ve definitely appreciated the Zoom catch-ups and hangouts with friends. Humans are social creatures, and we need each other more than ever in times like these.
I’ve found that having regularly scheduled chats and making plans in advance has kept me from getting too lost in my thoughts or worried about the virus or economy. And there are so many creative things out there that’s possible to do over video chat – virtual happy hours, meals, board game nights, movie nights, and so on. I don’t even think we had the technology 5-7 years ago to make these things possible. We’re lucky to be living in times where real-time, high-definition, multi-person communication is as simple as pushing a few buttons.
And if all else fails, there’s the old-fashioned phone call or text. I’ve definitely been keeping in touch with my family more, and I do feel like we’ve gotten closer as a result. So along the lines of pushing myself, I’m hoping to continue reaching out to friends and family in the coming weeks for support and good times.
That’s it for now! I may post more updates in the coming weeks but I also had some other post ideas in mind related to music and non-COVID topics. Stay tuned and stay safe, y’all!
